A Miscellany of Death and Folly At: Egaeuspress.Com/Death & Folly.Html

Purchase your copy of the publication A Miscellany of Death and Folly at: egaeuspress.com/Death_&_Folly.html I Profit and Loss: Mourning Jewellery Makers, Hair Artists and Mourning Retailers Exploitation of death through grief is as certain as death itself. Wherever a society can congregate, propagate and establish communities, there are hierarchical systems there to exploit the needs of its people. In particular, fashion has been a focal point through which death has been exploited, due to its highly emotive nature. Giving representative tokens of love created a connective memory with the loved one and solace through it. Mourning jewellery, and its industry, rose to become a self-sufficient and highly profitable industry from the period of the 18th century to the early 20th century, creating many roles for men, women and children. Families sustained themselves through the act of creating tokens of love and grief, while given leave to explore their art and craft in jewellery design, silversmithing, goldsmithing, hair weaving and painting. During the times when this mourning industry was burgeoning, the industry adapted to new technologies, constantly changing styles of fashion and social mobility all of which created opportunity the likes of which had not been seen previously. The Industrial Revolution gave rise to faster methods of construction and mass production, urbanisation, rapidly changing styles and machinery that had not been previously available. Families needed to adapt to these systems, otherwise their survival in business was not assured. The craft that was learned as an apprentice of a gold/silversmith was in a mercurial state all throughout the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Mourning jewellery is based around custom. Custom is driven from the top down; all levels of society wanted to mimic the styles of Court1, which had adopted and adhered to the three stages of mourning by the 18th century as led by Queen Victoria. This involved specific protocol which were in a state of flux from the 1760s to the 1820s. Ordre chronologique des deuils de cour, an order published in 1765 established parameters around the various times allowable and expected for a person entering the various mourning periods.2 This was determined based on the proximity of the person to the deceased member of the family. A wife may be in mourning for one year and three months, while a first cousin might be for eight days. Not all the stages were necessary in the Ordre. The stages of ‘first’, ‘second’, ‘ordinary’ and ‘half’ were detailed for brother, sister, husband and wife; however, the cost of honouring each stage of mourning would only be achievable by the most affluent families. A pauper’s funeral would have been considered to be a blight against the family and the inability to show wealth would have suggested a lack of respect for the deceased. Taylor (1983) wrote of the perception of this in the c.1680s, it ‘was considered demeaning to be seen to skimp. This showed both lack of respect for the dead and lack of respect for the ordained social order. It was the combination of these two emotions which gave mourning regulations such a grip on society.’3 The need to present the family in mourning through visual symbology drove the increase in the production of products required for mourning during the early-modern period, where new wealth was growing a new merchant class. What was required for the first stage mourning was to be as purposefully plain as possible. This involved an absence of reflective surfaces, images turned around and matte black finishes. Mrs John Sherwood wrote in Manners and Social Usages (1887) that ‘diamond ornaments set in black enamel [were] allowed in deepest mourning and also pearls set in black’4 were typically used in jewellery for the second stage and beyond. At the second stage of mourning, black and white gems were permissible, which allowed for pearls and jet to become popular at this stage, particularly by the early 19th century.5 From the 16th century, pearl trade had increased, with trade routes opening up Europe to pearls from India, the Caribbean and the Persian Gulf.6 The trade centres of Lisbon and Seville increased the ability of the mourning industry to adopt pearls for the second stage of mourning. Jewels utilised pearls as the singular element, or as an addition, which was a 1 “Women of inferior Rank, such as Tradesmen’s wives behind the Compter should make no Alteration of their Dress since it cannot arise… but from a meer Affection of the Mode at St James’s…” – Universal Spectator, 1731 2 Ordre chronologique des deuils de cour, Imprimerie de Moreau, 1763-1765 3 Taylor, L. (2009) Mourning Dress (Routledge Revivals): A Costume and Social History. Routledge; 1 edition. London, p. 181 4 Sherwood, Mrs John (1887). ‘Manners and Social Usages’. In Archive.org. Accessed 10:37, 13 June, 2019, from https://archive.org/details/danceman237 5 Ordre chronologique des deuils de cour, Imprimerie de Moreau, 1763-1765 6 The Book of the Pearl: Its History, Art, Science and Industry (2011). Kunz, G. F., Stevenson, C. H. Dover Publications, New York, p. 237 contrast to the harsh black that had been used solely in the first stage. Pearls were accessible and had been used for lower grade gold jewels, particularly in the 19th century, allowing them to be adapted well to mourning jewels, particularly in terms of affordability. The third/half stage of mourning allowed the integration of diamonds, jet, soft mauves, violet, pansy, lilac and purple.7 Access to diamonds from Brazil increased the usage of the gem in the early 18th century; Oakenfull (1919) reported that between 1732 and 1771, ‘at least 1,666,500 carats of diamonds were exported to Europe.’8 High market saturation and lower cost did not make diamonds completely accessible for all; indeed, the expense of the customs prescribed for the various mourning stages acted to reduce their accessibility. However, as these stages were advisory, the range of mourning accoutrement that was allowed within the realms of fashion adapted and expanded, allowing affordability and access. Indeed, mourning warehouses and jewellers of the 19th century faced a wide amount of competition, despite the demand for mourning fashion and accessories being high. Looking at the business trajectory of Samuel Courtauld’s and Co., a manufacturer of fabric and clothing and fibres, the clear correlation between demand for mourning fabrics and profit can be seen. Established in 1794, Courtauld's focused on silk and crepe, which were essential for all stages of mourning fashion. As written by Taylor; "From 1835 to 1885 capital rose from £40,000 to over £450,000. The boom years of 1850–85 coincided exactly with the peak of the Victorian passion for mourning etiquette. Samuel Courtauld built up a personal fortune of £70,000 and in 1850 bought himself an estate at Gosfield Hall, near his factories, with 2,000 acres of land."9 In the span of fifty years, the business’s capital growth from £40,000 to £450,000 was a 1025% uplift at a time when the gross domestic product was 100,179.00 international dollars.10 Mass urbanisation following the Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom during the 19th century created larger audiences who demanded the drive in mourning products. Based on the metric of Courtauld's capital alone, the clear drive for mourning products allowed for businesses to build a name for themselves and profit from grief and mourning. Mourning warehouses spanned the United Kingdom in the 19th century. These warehouses were designed to take care of all mourning needs. In Deptford, there was Munro's Mourning Warehouse, in Aberdeen there was Sangster & Henderson's Mourning Warehouse, in Regent Street, Peter Robinson's Mourning Warehouse and one that advertised prolifically was Jay's Mourning Warehouse. 7 Taylor, L. (2009) Mourning Dress (Routledge Revivals): A Costume and Social History. Routledge; 1 edition. London, p. 181 8 Oakenfull J.C. (1919) Brazil: Past, Present, and Future. John Bayles and Sons and Danielsson Ltd., London, p. 488 9 Ibid 10 Angus, M. 2003. The World Economy (Development Centre Studies), OECD Publishing. Paris, p. 33. "FAMILY MOURNING!! PETER ROBINSON'S Family and General Mourning Warehouse is now (since its extensive alterations) the largest in London. Families will effect a great way of saving by forwarding their orders to this Establishment, where the best Mourning may be purchased at the most reasonable prices, and the wear of every article is guaranteed. Dresses, Mantles, Bonnets, and Mourning Costume of every description are kept ready made, and can be forwarded in town or country immediately on receipt of order. Dressmaking to any extent on the shortest notice. Mourning Establishment, 103 and 104, Oxford-street, London."11 Robinson and Jay frequently discuss the cost of their products being economically friendly, fast to produce and available for both town and country delivery. Given the short amount of time between death and the interment of the body, the family and the deceased needed to have their mourning needs met at a rapid pace. Jay's advertisement on the 8th of October 1864 also supports this: "Though Messrs. Jay professedly keep the best articles for mourning and half-mourning, they supply complete suit domestic mourning for 2 1/2 guineas. Mourning costume of every description is kept ready-made, and can be forwarded, town or country, at a moment’s notice."12 11 Illustrated London News Group (1864). ‘HAIR JEWELLERY, - ARTIST IN HAIR’ advertisement on Illustrated London News, 21 September, p. 301 12 The Proprietors, “Preston Herald”, Preston (1864). ‘MESSERS. JAY’ advertisement on the Preston Herald, October 8, p.

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